


Faults

by cate-lynne (catelynne)



Category: Avengers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-15
Updated: 2015-04-22
Packaged: 2018-03-18 00:35:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3549446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catelynne/pseuds/cate-lynne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony and the reader have been in a relationship for only a few months.  When it's the reader's birthday, Tony has big plans that don't go quite exactly as expected…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. How

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is excited for the reader’s birthday, but so is someone else.

I was pulled from sleep by my boyfriend, Tony Stark, running his hand up and down my side, his hand “accidentally” pulling up the hem of my tank top. I could feel his gaze on me and had to mentally roll my eyes.

“Stop staring, Tony.”

When he heard my voice, he smiled and shifted closer so he could wrap his arm around my waist to pull me closer.  I groaned.

“Tony.”

He didn’t answer, just buried his face in my hair.  I gave up and tried to sit up, but he wouldn’t let me.

“Tony!” I cried, as I flopped back down to the mattress.

“Good morning, birthday girl…” I could hear the smirk in his voice.

“Oh God,” I groaned and started to squirm away.  “Please, no.”

“What?” he sounded confused.

“I don’t want to.”

“You don’t want to…have a birthday? That’s one of those things that’s kind of out of your control.”  He paused, and then let a mischievous tone enter his voice. “Besides, it’s my favorite day of the year.”

“I KNOW, why do you think I hate it so much?!  It’s just an excuse for you to do crazy things and spoil me even more than you already do, and I don’t get to say anything about it!”

“Exactly,” Tony whispered in my ear before bouncing off of the bed. “JARVIS!  Open the blinds!”

“Why…” I groaned as a blast of sunlight hit me.  I burrowed under the covers childishly until Tony suddenly yanked them off of the bed and out of my reach. “Tony! Give them back!”

“Not a chance, sugar,” he said with a wink, ignoring my glare. “Up.  I’ll have breakfast ready for you in 15 minutes.  Want me to bring-”

“NO!” I shouted.  I would not have breakfast in bed.  Tony smirked at my vehemence before strolling out of the room with a “Fifteen minutes!” called over his shoulder.

I stalled a little bit, attempting to go back to sleep, but giving up after five minutes.  I crawled to the edge of the bed and groggily stood up to make my way to the embroidered silk robe Tony had bought me.  I didn’t think Steve would be comfortable eating his breakfast with me in only a tank top and underwear.  I pulled on the almost-floor length robe, enjoying the way the coolness of the fabric felt against my skin.  After checking in the mirror to make sure I was adequately covered, I made my way to the kitchen.  Once there, I looked around to see the Avengers, in various stages of dress, gathered around the countertop to eat.  Of course, Natasha and Clint were already dressed in the usual black, while Steve and Bucky opted for jeans and t-shirts.  Loki was in a pair of loose sweatpants and a light t-shirt, while Thor…Thor was in a pair of blue plaid pajama bottoms and bunny slippers.  Bunny slippers?  Where did he even get those?  Bruce wore his usual slacks and purple button down.  And then there was Tony, running around, cooking, in…his…underwear.  God.  Well, it’s not like I didn’t appreciate the sight of a half-naked Tony, what with the muscles and everything but still.  I could see Steve turning red and was suddenly very glad I had decided to cover up.

“Tony,” I sighed. “Go put some clothes on before Steve swoons.”

There was a murmur of laughter from everyone else while Tony sent a seductive wink in the direction of a spluttering Steve.

“I’m not – I don’t-” he tried.

“It’s okay, Cap.  I know you love me,” Tony teased.  Steve just put his face in his hands while Bucky patted his back comfortingly.

Meanwhile, I noticed Natasha hissing something at Clint.  As usual, it sounded like she was trying to dissuade him from some silly impulse he had no control over and wouldn’t have ignored even if he could.  But apparently she lost, because all of a sudden he stood up dramatically and burst out: “Happy birthday, (Y/N)!” with a slightly maniacal smile on his face.  Natasha sighed, but I didn’t mind all that much.  The rest of the Avengers could control themselves in the face of a birthday.  Only Tony didn’t seem to understand the line between acceptable birthday celebrations and over the top, completely unacceptable birthday events that had news cameras and police involved.

Steve, Bucky, Bruce and Natasha all echoed the sentiment, albeit much less dramatically.  Loki offered me a rare smile before going back to reading through a small notebook.  Thor looked pleased.

“It is indeed a cause for celebration that this is the day Lady (Y/N) was born.  Tony, surely you have something extravagant planned?”

“Yes, I do!” Tony crowed and was about to elaborate, when all of a sudden, Clint lunged forward, grabbed my hand and dashed towards an open window.

“Wait!” Tony yelled. “I’m making breakfast!”

“Clint…” Natasha warned, but it was too late. 

Helpless to stop the much stronger Avenger from doing…whatever it was he was doing, I stumbled along next to him, not realizing what was coming.  Suddenly, Clint had secured an arm around my waist and lifted me as he twisted and jumped.  Out the window.

“HEY!” Tony roared, sounding slightly panicked.  I could barely hear him over the sound of my own screams.  Clint just grinned and pulled a grappling hook from his belt, aimed and fired.  I didn’t pay attention to where it went.  I was too busy watching the ground get closer and closer.  In the next second, I felt Clint’s arm press uncomfortably around my waist as we suddenly changed directions, now headed for the side of the Tower.  Great, no longer death by concrete, I was going to be smashing into the side of a building,

“Stay as still as you can!” Clint shouted.  My arms were wrapped securely around his neck and my legs were clamped around his waist.  There was no chance they were moving. I buried my face in his shoulder as he suddenly shifted his body at a right angle to the building.  There was the sound of metal scraping on metal before we were enveloped by darkness.

When I could breathe again, I looked around to find myself in a larger-than-usual vent.  There was a sleeping bag, several quivers of arrows, books, and a few scattered empty Redbull cans.  I gaped at Clint.  He was crouched next to me, enjoying my reaction.

“Clint-!”

But I didn’t get any farther in my scolding before he raised a finger to his lips and motioned for me to listen.   It took a few seconds, but gradually, I could hear what had suddenly made Clint start giggling.

“ _Natasha_!  He just-”

“She’ll be okay, Tony.”

“Out the _window_!”

“Clint won’t let anything happen to her, Tony.”

“He just – they just disappeared, Steve!”

“Clint cares for Lady (Y/N) deeply.  He would not harm her.”

“That doesn’t make it better!”

I turned with wide eyes to Clint, who was on his back, laughing silently with tears streaming down his face.   It took me a second, but then I understood.  _This_ was what Natasha had been trying to talk him out of.  I whacked his arm and started the scolding.

“Clint!  You nearly gave me a heart attack!  And just so you could scare the crap out of Tony?!  Take me back!”

Clint just kept silently shaking with laughter. “Clint! Take. Me. Back.”

When he still didn’t answer, I opened my mouth to shout for Tony.  Hopefully he would be able to find me.  Suddenly, Clint’s hand was a warm pressure on my mouth.  I jerked my head away and glared at him.

“What?” I snapped.

“Didn’t you trust me?”

“What?”  This time it was more confused than angry.

“Didn’t you trust me not to let anything happen to you?”  He sounded a little hurt.

“I – of course, Clint.  You just-”

“Just what?”

I felt my anger disappear as I looked at his face that suddenly looked so young.

“You just caught me off guard, Clint,” I said gently, before lightening my tone. “Not to mention I didn’t even have time to caffeinate beforehand!”

His face relaxed and he laughed along with me, before turning serious once more. “I did actually bring you here for a reason.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I have a…a present for you.”

I smiled and waited while he crawled over to the sleeping bag and pulled out something small from under the pillow.  He came back to me and suddenly looked nervous.  Suddenly, I was too.  I could hear Tony shouting in the distance and the others trying to calm him down.  We would be lucky if he didn’t deploy all the suits to search for me.  They would register Clint as a threat, being my kidnapper, and that would not end well…

“Here,” Clint said gruffly, pulling my attention back to him.  He took my wrist and I felt the touch of cool metal.  When he took his hands away, there, on my wrist, was a simple silver chain with a tiny silver arrow to match.  It looked a lot like the necklace that Natasha had…and that’s when I realized the importance of this gift, why he didn’t want to give it to me in front of the others, especially Tony.

I knew he and Natasha weren’t involved romantically like everyone thought.  She was his family and the necklace was the symbol of their bond.  Over the past year that I had been part of the Avengers team, Clint and I had been growing closer and closer, forming a tight bond similar to the one he and Natasha shared.  He was sweet and protective, watching out for me the way no one else had.  And now he was letting me know that he included me in his tiny family.  I blinked away tears and lunged forward to wrap my arms around him.  I squeezed as tightly as I could without hurting him.  He chuckled and hugged back just as tightly.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“I love it.”

When we pulled apart, I beamed at him for a minutes before a concerned look crept across my face.

“What’s wrong?”

“How do we get back?  It doesn’t involve…” I trialed off, jerking my chin at the vent opening.  He glance back and forth from me to the entrance for a second before he understand what was worrying me.  And then he cracked up all over again.

“It’s not funny!” I complained punching his shoulder.

It was at that precise second that the vent wrenched open and Tony, in his Iron Man suit, gathered me up in his arms possessively and flew me back, leaving one hysterically laughing Hawkeye behind.

…

When we landed back in the kitchen, Tony set me gently on my feet as the suit broke into pieces and flew back to the lab.  He was already ranting before the facemask was airborne.

“-could have seriously injured you!  What was he thinking?!” he continued on, but I had already stopped listening.  Natasha had caught my eye and was looking at me expectantly.  I grinned at her and held up my wrist, shaking it a little so the bracelet caught the light.  She grinned back and went back to her coffee.

“-nearly gave me a heart attack-”

“Tony.”

“-and on your _birthday-_ ”

“Tony!”

“-he and I will be having words!”

“TONY!”

Surprised, he looked down at me.  I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah?”

“I’m fine.” I knew the exasperation was thick in my voice, but I didn’t care.  I glanced down, catching a glint of light off of my new bracelet, and smiled. “Better than fine.”

“Wha-?”

That’s when Clint dropped down from the vent in the ceiling, landing…on top of me.  I let out a shriek as we went down.  I expected to be crushed under Clint’s weight, but he held himself up on his elbows and smirked down at me.  I looked up into his face to see an unfamiliar look on his face.  There was gentleness in his eyes that I had never seen before.  It was strange.

“BARTON!” Tony shouted. 

And with a wink and a light kiss on my cheek, Clint disappeared back into the vents before Tony could kill him.  Tony stood there, shouting at the ceiling while our friends chuckled at how crazy he looked and sounded while I lay on the ground by his feet.  I raised a hand to my cheek and touched the place that his lips had met my skin.  I was so confused.  Clint had never done anything like that before…

I met Natasha’s eyes again from position on the floor.  There was an unreadable expression on her face, but I got the feeling that she had seen everything and was just as confused as I was.

…

After Tony calmed down and helped me off of the floor, he swept me away to discuss the party.  He didn’t say anything, but the possessive arm around my waist and the glances he kept throwing at any vent we passed made me think that maybe he had seen the kiss from Clint.  And he wasn’t happy about it.  Once in the lab, he relaxed a little, since there were no vents big enough for Clint to crawl through in there.

After two (two!) solid hours of party planning and negotiating and whining, Tony finally announced it was time for lunch.  He stretched, throwing his arms above his head and reaching up as far as he could.  I caught myself staring at the strip of skin that was revealed when his shirt lifted up.  Tony caught me looking and smirked, swinging his arms back down to his sides.

“So…”

“Lunch, Tony.”

“Right.”

Walking back to the kitchen, Tony threw a casual arm around my shoulder and kissed the top of my head.

“How did I get so lucky, huh?”

“What?”

“How did I get so lucky that I get to have you?”  Tony smiled down at me and I blushed, trying not to think about the silver on my wrist or the pressure of Clint’s lips on my cheek.

“Oh, um…”

He laughed and pulled me closer, effectively ending the conversation when his lips met mine.

…

Clint glared down to where Tony and (Y/N) stood embracing in the hallway.  He fought the urge to fall out of the vent on top of them.  Again.  After a few seconds, (Y/N) pushed Tony away with a playful smirk and raced off down the hall, laughing as Tony struggled to catch up.  Clint leaned against the metal wall of the vent, taking deep breaths.  It drove him nuts seeing Tony make breakfast for (Y/N), buy things for (Y/N), cuddle under a blanket with (Y/N)…basically everything Tony could possibly do with (Y/N), Clint was jealous of. 

He had been thrilled when (Y/N) had accepted his gift, but then Tony had flown in and ruined the moment.  Stupid Tony.  But he had raced back to through the vents to the kitchen in time to see her smiling at the bracelet that Tony apparently hadn’t noticed yet, because he hadn’t thrown a fit.  Clint had been so distracted by the look on her face that he had leaned too far over the vent and had toppled out on top of her.  Then, looking down at her, he hadn’t been able resist pressing a little kiss to her cheek before fleeing Tony’s wrath.

  1.   She was so perfect.



As Clint started making his way back to the living room to find Nat, he reflected on Tony’s question to her.

_“How did I get so lucky that I get to have you?”_

Clint grimaced.  How _did_ Tony end up with (Y/N)?  Clint didn’t remember how it had happened, he just made his way to the kitchen one day and there they were, giggling at each other and sending each other lingering looks in between gentle touches on arms and loving kisses on cheeks.  Clint had been shocked.  He had thought…well, it didn’t matter what he thought. 

(Y/N) was with Tony.  And there was nothing he could do about it.


	2. Why

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reader is forced to reevaluate her feelings for Tony and Clint.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so, for those of you who didn't see, I updated Chapter One, so probably go back and read it.

I was still upstairs in Tony’s, actually our, bedroom when the party started.  I could hear people arriving, laughing voices floating up the stairs, enticing me to come and see.  I knew Tony and I knew that this party was probably already labelled the social event of the season.  There would be men in tuxedos and women in sparkling dresses and adorned with their jewels.  It would be fabulous.

I didn’t want to go.

I was sitting in the bathroom, trying to fix my hair when there was a knock on the door.  I nearly choked.  My mouth was full of bobby pins and my hands were tangled in my hair.

“Mmmmph!”  I spat out a couple of pins. “C-come in!”

Natasha stuck her head in and gave me a small smile. “Need somehelp?”

“Yes, please.”

She walked over, eyeing the knots I was slowly working my hair into and the silk robe I was wearing.  In other words – not ready at all.  Sighing, she picked up a brush from the counter and started running it through my hair.  As she did, I took in her appearance enviously.  Her red hair was curled perfectly, her make-up was flawless, and the fitted black dress she wore showed off all her curves.  I sighed.  Sometimes, it was hard to feel good about myself with Nat around.

“Stop it,” she scolded.  I never knew how she managed to read my mind but she still did it.

“Sorry,” I muttered.

“So,” she began as she started pinning my hair up. “Care to share _why_ you’re missing your own birthday party?”

I stayed silent.  She would figure it out faster than I could tell her anyway.

“Does it have anything to do with what happened this morning with Clint?”

See?  Black Widow strikes again.

“(Y/N)?”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “No.  I don’t know.”

Satisfied with my hair, Natasha stepped back to pull me to my feet.  She then led me into the bedroom where my dress was laid out.  It was gorgeous.  Tony had bought it for me, obviously.  It was white and flowing, shining with glitter and small jewels all over the bodice.  Natasha rolled her eyes when she saw it, but proceeded to wrestle me into it all the same.

“Have you ever seen him do…anything like that?” I asked while she worked on the zipper.

“Like what?” She was playing dumb.  She gave up when I gave her a look. “Like kissing one of his closest friends who also happens to be dating genius, playboy, philanthropist, billionaire Tony Stark?”

“Yeah, that.”

“No.”

“That’s what I thought.”  I sighed, yet again, as Natasha motioned for me to turn around. “What do I do?”

She avoided my eyes.  This was uncharted territory for us.  Sure, we had discussed relationships.  She had been the one to come to me to tell me that her relationship with Clint was purely platonic, which…now that I was thinking about it…

I stepped away from her, shocked.

“Tasha…”

She still wasn’t looking at me.  This was the most uncomfortable I had ever seen her look.  That told me everything I needed to know, really, but I had to make sure.

“When you came to tell me about you and Clint…not being a couple, I mean. Do you…did you know, then?  How Clint felt about me?”

“I…”

“Tasha!”

“I didn’t!” she blurted out.  “I didn’t know, okay?”

I looked at her skeptically.  She sighed.

“I mean, I suspected.  That’s why I wanted to make it clear to you that if you wanted to…go there, you could.”

“I…What am I going to do, Tasha?”

She shrugged her shoulders.  “Only you can decide that.”

“Great.”

…

Natasha had left me to regain some semblance of composure.  Needless to say, I was a confused wreck.  I didn’t know what to do.  I had so many thoughts spinning around my head at once.  Checking myself in the mirror once last time, I noted the flush on my face and put my hands to my cheeks.

Clint liked me.  The thought alone made me blush even more and gave me a happy, fluttery feeling in my stomach.  Clint was a talented archer and a great agent.  Not to mention the fact that he was extremely good looking, strong, funny, sweet, mischievous…It took me a minute to realize I was getting a little carried away thinking about him.  No, it definitely wasn’t a bad thing to have Clint care about me.

As I walked towards the elevator, I took stock of my own emotions.  When I had first arrived, I had been charmed by Clint’s bright smile and friendliness.  I had noticed his good looks, of course, but I had noticed Steve, Bucky, Thor and Tony as well.  At first, when we had been talking and hanging out, I had hoped that he liked me.  But then I saw the way he was with Natasha and had given up.  By the time Natasha came to tell me she was just friends with Clint, things had already been happening with Tony.

Speaking of Tony, what about him?  How did I really feel about him?  What did I want?

Suddenly, the elevator doors opened, startling me.  Still caught up in my own thoughts, I got on and pressed the button for the right floor.  I was so absorbed by trying to figure everything out that I didn’t realize I wasn’t alone until a voice broke in to my reverie.

“You look gorgeous.”

I jumped and spun around, backing into the corner.  Clint’s eyes were wide as he took in my startled appearance.  He slowly raised his hand in surrender, careful not to make any sudden movements.

“Clint!” I gasped out. “You scared the living daylights out of me!”

“Sorry, sorry!”  He looked so good in his suit, but I tried to ignore it. “I thought you knew I was here!”

“Obviously not!”

There was silence for a few minutes.  I was getting uncomfortable.  After my talk with Natasha, I was nowhere near ready to be alone in a confined space with Clint.  I stayed in the corner and glared at the little screen that flashed the floor number.  I swear to God, it was moving slowly on purpose.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Clint take a hesitant step towards me.

“I meant it though, (Y/N).  You seriously look amazing.”

I sent him a tiny smile and tried to ignore the way his words made my insides melt. “Thanks, Clint.”

I flinched slightly when his fingers grazed my wrist but he pretended not to notice.  I could tell he was watching my face, trying to figure out what I was thinking and how much he could get away with.  Apparently deciding it was safe, he took my wrist in his grip gently to hold it up to eye-level.  His eyes left my face to look at the bracelet that glittered on my wrist.

“It looks good on you.”

“Thanks,” I squeaked out.

He stepped closer still.  He was only a few inches away and I had nowhere to go.  I was pressed as far into the corner as I could be.  I could feel his breath on my cheek as I turned my head to glance at which floor we were on.  Still five floors up.  I didn’t think I would last that long if –

“Why?” he asked, so quietly I almost missed it.

“Why what?” I whispered.

“Why are you with Tony?  When you first came here, I thought we were - I thought you…” he raked his hands through his hair in frustration, making it stand up even more crazily.  I nearly choked.  He wanted to do this _here_?  Now?!  “I just…why him?”

He smoothed a strand of my hair back into place, staring deep into my eyes.  I couldn’t think of anything to say.  I glanced up.  Two more floors.  Deep breath in.

“He kind of…swept me off my feet.”  In more ways than one.  Forget the crazy expensive presents and the sweet gestures, he had taken me flying using the suit and had opened up, showing me a part of Tony Stark that I didn’t know existed.  It brought a small smile to my face to think of the rooftop conversations we’d had and the way he looked so vulnerable when he talked about his parents and the losses he’d suffered.  It took a while for him to tell me about Yinsen, but when he did, he cried and let me hold him.  It was so special to me that he had allowed me to see that part of him.

Clint had been watching my face.  I snapped back from thinking about my courtship with Tony to see the sad look on his face.  I shook myself free of the nostalgia and tried to edge around him. 

“We’re here…” I gestured weakly at the little numbers that showed that we were arriving on the main floor.  But before the doors could open, Clint reached over and pressed the stop button.

“That’s what I was trying to do, (Y/N),” he insisted.

“I know that, Clint!”

“You…you know?” He looked confused for a minute before a hurt look took over.  “You knew…and you still – with Stark?”

“What? No!”  Maybe I didn’t know what I wanted to do about anything else, but I knew I didn’t want to hurt Clint.  Ever.  “At the beginning, I thought you and Tasha…”

“But we weren’t!  We never have!”

“But I didn’t know that then!  Natasha didn’t tell me until after things had started happening with Tony.”

“Tasha told you?!”

“No! She just told me you guys were just friends.  But by then, Tony and I had-”

“But now you know, (Y/N)!”

“Yeah, but I’m still with Tony!”  I sneaked a hand behind my back to release the stop button. “What do you want me to do?”

“Just give me a chance!” he sounded desperate and didn’t realize that the doors were sliding open. “Please!”

“Clint, stop-”

Suddenly, he lunged forward, caught my face in his hands and pressed his lips against mine.  I was so shocked, it took me a minute to struggle against him.  But he was stronger and insistent.  His lips attacked mine with enough force to bruise and soon his teeth were in my skin, nipping me to make my mouth open in a gasp of pain.  He took advantage of the opening, still ignoring my attempts to push him away –

Until a fist connected solidly with the side of his face.  He reeled back and I caught a glimpse of the look of surprise on his face, both at his actions and at getting hit.  That was all I saw before a warm, gentle hand took mine and pulled me out of the elevator, reeling me in to hold me close.  I buried my face in the chest that was made available.  I could smell Tony’s cologne so I knew it was him.

“JARVIS, take him back upstairs.  Now,” Tony barked.

I peeked out from behind Tony’s shielding arms to see Clint looking at me miserably.

“(Y/N)…” he started but Tony cut him off.

“No.  You’ve done enough damage for tonight.”  Tony’s tone brooked no argument.  The next second, the doors were closing on Clint and Tony was leaning back so he could look at my face.  His eyes searched across my face, down my neck, and wandered fleetingly across the rest of me to make sure I was okay.  Then his eyes met mine and I saw that the anger was still there, but it was mostly overshadowed by concern for me.

“Is she okay?” A voice asked and that’s when I realized that the rest of the team was there too.  Looking around, I saw a confused looking Thor standing next to a mildly interested Loki, while Bruce looked shocked.  Steve and Bucky, my protective acting-older brothers, had looks of anger and intense disapproval on their faces.  But it was Natasha who caught my eye.  I had never seen that look on her face before.  She was torn, I could tell.  There were so many conflicting emotions on her face at once.  I had to look away from her.  I buried my face in Tony’s chest once more, willing him to make them go away.

“She’s fine, guys.  Go back to the party.  I’m just going to take her somewhere quiet so she can calm down.”  The others nodded and drifted back to the guests, except for Natasha.  She glanced at me for permission, which I nodded to her, before swiftly moving to the stairs to first, see if Clint was okay and second, probably beat the crap out of him.

Once we were alone, I looked up at Tony, opened my mouth to speak, and promptly burst into tears.  Holding me close, Tony led me over to a small window seat hidden by curtains and let me cry.

…

Why?

That was the only thought running on loop through Clint’s head.

Why?

Why had he kissed her?

Why hadn’t he let her go?

Why did he have to ruin everything?

Why?

Why?

Why?

Questions swirled around and around in his head and he couldn’t answer any of them.  There was only one thing he knew for certain:

(Y/N) would never want him now.


	3. Where

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony attempts to comfort the reader after her encounter with Clint.

After about half an hour, I had stopped crying enough that I could speak.

“Tony,” I mumbled.  I was squished against his chest, trapped by his strong, protective arms.  He didn’t let go.  “Tony.”

“Shhhh,” he whispered in my hair.  Shrugging to myself, I sank back into him, loving the way his body seemed to fit with mine perfectly.  We stayed there, hidden in the window seat by a white curtain, for another ten minutes before I realized my neck was starting to cramp.  I tried to pull away, but Tony only let me get half a foot away before he yanked me back.  My head thudded against his chest.

“Tony,” I whined.  He chuckled and let me sit up.  The amusement his eyes dissolved into something more serious when he looked into my eyes.

“You okay, babe?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. 

I could feel the tension in his muscles.  Looking up into his face, I saw so many emotions.  Anger, concern, jealousy…doubt.  The last one made my heart drop.  If Tony thought that I wanted Clint…rather than him, I would lose Tony.  And I was not letting that happen.  I scrambled forward until I was perched in his lap.

“Oof,” he grunted, surprised.  When he looked down at me, he found my face, open and so much more vulnerable than usual, only inches away from his own.  He opened his mouth to say something but I beat him to it.

“I love you.”  The words hung in the air between us.  It was the first time I had told him.  I wasn’t sure if he felt the same, but I couldn’t not tell him.  I had been resisting the urge to blurt it out for weeks.

I watched Tony’s face.  He blinked several times.  He took a deep breath like he was going to talk but stopped when the air caught in his throat.  Eventually, he leaned his forehead against mine and let a small smile slip across his face.

“I love you, too,” he murmured against my cheek.  We stayed there for a moment before sounds of the party reached us.  Tony pulled away and we grinned at each other like fools.  Suddenly, Tony put on a mock-stern face and pulled me to my feet.

“You are _not_ allowed to miss your own birthday party.”

“Tony,” I protested.  “I’ve already missed it.”

“Nonsense.  You’re fashionably late, that’s all.”

“But…”

“Nope!” Tony interrupted before his face adopted a gleeful and mischievous look that instantly made him look like a kid. “Besides, you have to open presents too!”

“Tony!  What presents?!”

“From me and the team, of course!”

I ground my teeth together for a minute before sighing and taking his hand. “Fine.  But I’m not letting go of you for a second.”

“Sounds good to me, babe.”

…

The party wasn’t actually that bad.  In fact, it was kind of fun, which I could never admit to Tony.  The large ballroom was decorated in silver decorations, my favorite flowers were heaped in every corner, and the food was fantastic.  There were a lot of people, but I managed not to lose Tony in the crowd.  It was a few hours later that I agreed to release Tony to dance with Bucky.  A slow song started up as we made our way to the dance floor.  Bucky took my waist and hand in a proper waltz and spun me around.  On a turn, I caught a glimpse of Tony talking to the rest of the Avengers…minus Clint and Tasha.  Bucky recapture my attention when he leaned forward to whisper in my ear.

“You okay, kid?”

“Yes, James, I’m fine.”

Bucky smiled.  I was the only one who called him James anymore and he loved it.

“Do Steve and I need to kick someone’s ass?”

I laughed. “No, that won’t be necessary.”

“Good.”

We danced in silence for a moment before Bucky spoke again.

“Okay, what’s the deal?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why is Tony looking at you like that?”

“Um…” I stalled.  “Like what?”

Bucky looked at me suspiciously. “Like a puppy.  Or a moron.  Or a….I don’t know.  Something very much not-Tony-like.”

“Oh, well…I told him.”

“You-” Bucky knew how I felt about Tony.  He had for a while. “You just… _told_ him?”

“Yes, James.”

He studied me for a minute, making me blush.  Then he smiled. “Good for you, kid.”

“Thanks.”

…

When all the guests had left, the Avengers made their way upstairs.  I was exhausted.  I had turned in the direction of my wonderfully comfortable bed when Tony grabbed my hand and tugged me in the opposite direction.

“Wha-? Tony…sleep! Please?”

“Not yet, sweetheart.  You still have presents to open!”

I sighed in defeat, knowing I wouldn’t get a moment of peace until I opened the small mountain of presents. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to put up a fight.

“Can’t I just open them in the morning? It’s two in the morning!”

“Nope.  Now.”

I stumbled and fell into an armchair.  Smirking at me and each other, the tired Avengers settled on couches and chairs.  None of them dared say it to my face, but I knew they were all massively amused by how Tony and I acted around each other: one part adoring and two parts childish as hell.  I glared at the presents that were piled around me.  I had counted at least twenty. 

“Open this one first!” Tony said, thrusting a brightly wrapped box into my hands.  I sighed and carefully started peeling the paper away.

“How do I know who it’s from?”

“The ones with gift tags are from us,” Steve reassured me.

“Everything else is from me!” Tony added.

Of course it was.  From what I could see, about ninety-percent of the presents were from Tony.

The first present I opened was from Tony, one of a total count of twenty-three.  Tony had, in typical Tony fashion, spared no expense.  I was completely up to date on everything technological on the market, along with a few things that weren’t on the market, including my own AI System similar to JARVIS that I immediately named CARA (Computers Are Really Awesome).  Steve and Bucky bought me a special copy of The Little Prince, my favorite book.  Natasha, who had snuck in at some point, had given me practically an entire new wardrobe.  Thor had gifted me with the biggest tub of Nutella I had ever seen.  I had been childishly happy about that one.  Loki, surprisingly, had also gotten me a gift.  Or rather, he made me a gift.  I opened a flat package to see ten tiny vials of potion that would allow me to manipulate my appearance for twenty-four hours.  That was really cool.  And Bruce had given me a flower that he had genetically altered to change colors based upon my mood.

Once all the presents were opened and everyone had given me a final hug and “happy birthday”, I was finally allowed to go to bed.  I was so ready to sleep, but Tony had something on his mind.  I could tell because he was quiet through our usual night time routine and he didn’t even make any inappropriate jokes when we climbed into bed.

Lying next to me, he absently rubbed his hand up and down my arm.  He was thinking so loudly I could practically hear it.  I sighed and rolled over so we were face to face.

“Spit it out.”

“What?”

“Whatever you’re thinking about.  It’s painful to listen to.”

“Ha.” He rolled his eyes, before letting his eyes wander over my face. “I just…”

I nodded to encourage him.

“I was just wondering.  I mean, considering what happened today, I thought that he would have-”

“Tony, just-”

“Shh,” he interrupted my complaining.  “I thought that Clint would have gotten you something.  That’s all.”

I looked at him in surprise.  So hadn’t noticed after all.  “I thought you knew.”

“Knew?” he narrowed his eyes. “Knew what?”

I pulled my arm free from the blankets and held up my wrist for him to see the bracelet that was glinting in the pale moonlight that managed to shine through the blinds.  Tony took my hand gently in his and turned t back and forth so he could see the tiny arrow.

“When did he give you this?” he asked, never taking his eyes off of the jewelry wrapped around my arm.

“When he…threw us out the window this morning.”

Tony studied the bracelet for another minute before he nodded and set my hand down, gently tucking it back under the covers before pulling me close so that my head was on his chest and I could feel the heat radiating from his body.  He didn’t say anything for a while and it was making me nervous.

“I’ll take it off, if you want.  I don’t want to make you – I mean…”

“What? No.  I know how you feel about him.  He’s part of your family. I know that.”  He kissed the top of my head. “That bracelet is exactly where it’s supposed to be.”

I snuggled in closer, feeling happier than I had in a long time.

“So am I.”

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to let me know what you think, kitten!


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